Title 4 – KQ 2: To what extent “ Disinterestedness” needs to accompany with Emotion and critical thinking for pursuit of knowledge?

KQ 2: To what extent “ disinterestedness” needs to accompany with Emotion and critical thinking for pursuit of knowledge?

Critical thinking requires close examination and scrutiny of ideas , concepts , facts and evidence that , on the first glance , seems to be counter to “ suspension of disbelief”. Fact and Fiction appear to be at odds with each other when we consider knowledge production.Yet it is well known that great scientific and technological innovators were also open , creative and even insane thinkers. Scientific innovation , the foundation of the modern civilisation , is preceded by unconventional and unorthodox thinking . The unconventional and critical thinking processes are not competing with each other in the choices of ‘making something new’ versus ‘ making sound judgements’ but are intrinsically tied to each other at various stages of knowledge production. In recent years, there is ample evidence to suggest that “cognition results from the dynamic interactions of distributed brain areas operating in large-scale networks.”

“ Disinterestedness” involves the ability to be objective and ability to deal with new ideas so as to make them useful and relevant. It is not merely conception of new and original ideas but the act of bringing ideas to life. One needs to focus , remove ambiguity , add details and take the idea to its logical conclusion . It is equally important that the original ideas and concepts are valuable and useful. Artists and innovators were deemed crazy because their divergent thinking and ideas didn’t coincide with the society’s interests and utility at the time.

Different patterns of neural activations and deactivations occur at different stages of the cognitive process that are both objective , detached on one hand while deeply interested and involved . It is equally important to get the focus and attention back and critically evaluate and implement your insane ideas.“These two ways of thinking are complementary and equally important. They need to work together in harmony to address perceived dilemmas, paradoxes, opportunities, challenges, or concerns (Treffinger, Isaksen, & Stead-Dorval, 2006).